Out Of This World

Anti-Racist Propaganda in Comics: True Comics 39 - "There Are No Master Races!"

2011-04-11T09:11:00.003-04:00

During the 1940s, True Comics, of what might be called a true life, factual, or educational genre, promoted the humanist viewpoint of publisher George J. Hecht. A nice article about the series can be found on the Virginia Commonwealth University website. Quite a number of complete issues can be read in the Digital Comic Museum. Hecht used the comic to disseminate anti-racist propaganda that flew in the face of Nazi claims of racial superiority and inferiority, and of Aryan supremacy. True Comics 39 (Sept-Oct 1944) featured an overtly anti-racist piece entitled "There Are No Master Races", which presents practical reasons in support of racial equality. This story (and the whole issue) is available in the Digital Comics Museum, but the scans presented below are of higher resolution and are 'cleaned up'/edited with image editing software.

This story was also distributed as a propaganda pamphlet - I've seen one for sale on eBay for a considerable sum. I like this issue of True Comics because it shows that, while segregation was still a reality in American society at the time, there were people working to change things, and Hecht was one of those people. Little by little things did change, and comics played their part in the emergence of a more civilized world.

Crossing the Divide: Jesse Owens

2011-04-10T04:39:00.001-04:00

Some time back (Feb 17, 2011) Out Of This World featured a Jack Kirby Losers story where Kirby introduced an African American soldier, Mile-a-Minute Jones, who was based on the real life African American athlete Jesse Owens. The Catholic comic book Treasure Chest vol. 7, #20 (June 5, 1952) featured a biography of Jesse Owens in which his undermining of Aryan supremacy in Hitler's Germany at the Berlin Olympics of 1936 is recounted, as is his subsequent recognition by post-Nazi Germany. The scans here are low resolution:

The Ziff-Davis title, Bill Stern's Sports Book Vol. 2 #2, doesn't have a sequential art story about Jess Owens, but does have a 2 page illustrated text feature that is an interesting read:

Of all American sports personalities, Jesse Owens and Joe Louis, by virtue of their direct confrontation with, and victory over, Aryan supremacists, were at the forefront of the intellectual challenge to the racist philosophies of the Nazis.

Crossing the Divide: The Harlem Globetrotters (2)

2011-04-09T04:02:00.000-04:00

The Hanna-Barbera TV cartoon series of the Harlem Globetrotters aired from Sept 1970 through Oct 1971. In July 1971 Gold Key published Hanna-Barbera Fun-In 8 featuring an adaptation of the cartoon show. The Globetrotters were again featured in issue 10 of Fun-In. The Harlem Globetrotters cartoon show then had its own 12-issue Gold Key comic book series that ran from April 1972 through January 1975. Here's issue 7, from October 1973. Some of the early issues were actually adapted straight from a cartoon story, but I don't know whether this is one of those. It certainly reads like it could be a kids' cartoon. The artwork is rather nice, but the artist is not credited. The Globetrotters cartoon show was the first to feature predominantly African American main characters, and the comic book was one of the earliest also. It would be interesting to know what the thinking was behind giving the Globetrotters a white granny as a manager. It speaks to the Globetrotters incredible appeal as entertainers that they ended up being used as characters in a kids' cartoon show and comic book series.

Crossing the Divide: Joe Louis (2)

2011-04-08T03:35:00.003-04:00

This comparative look at the peaks of the respective careers of Joe Louis and Jack Dempsey in Bill Stern's Sports Book Vol.2 #2 is interesting, not least because it doesn't mention race. In 1952 when this comic was published by Ziff-Davis in a still-segregated America, it was remarkable in that it features an African American, and still more remarkable that Joe Louis is not billed as representing his race. It's refreshing to read a comic from that time that simply presents Louis as a normal, if accomplished, member of the human race. This was one approach to racial integration in comics used by some writers of Silver Age comic books later on, presenting diversity as if racial harmony was a reality in society. Interestingly, the art on this story is by famed inker Frank Giacoia.

Crossing the Divide: 'Sugar' Ray Robinson

2011-04-07T10:07:00.000-04:00

Another of the many stories in Bill Stern's Sports Book Vol.2 #2 (Ziff-Davis, Winter, 1952) features 'Sugar' Ray Robinson, whom many consider to have been the greatest pugilist of all time. Robinson was another boxer who fought in an age when successful African American sports personalities were seen as ambassadors of their race. Their success was seen as 'proof' of racial equality, in a society that was struggling to impose intelligence over the animal instinct that saw and feared difference. Robinson was friends with Joe Louis, and during WWII these two boxers played a significant morale-boosting role in the armed forces. Ironically, although in 1952 Robinson is praised highly, on the first page of this story, for sound management of his earnings, by the end of his life he was existing in poverty.

Crossing the Divide: Satchel Paige

2011-04-06T09:31:00.006-04:00

The Catholic comic Treasure Chest is actually a mini-gold mine for someone looking for Golden or Silver Age comic books featuring African Americans. In Treasure Chest there are a mixture of fictional and factual stories, and it is true accounts of the lives and activities of famous African Americans that are sometimes depicted. I picked this story about the baseball player Satchel Paige especially because of the last three panels, but generally because Paige is someone I had never heard of before, and it was interesting reading about him. Those last three panels really drive home the role that African American sports personalities played in bridging the racial divide. That they had to shoulder this responsibility speaks to the power of prejudice against difference that develops in unenlightened societies, as people allow themselves to be driven by their animal instincts instead of their intelligence. Unfortunately, the achievements of so many other African Americans remain unknown because of a color-filtered mechanism of apportioning worth to human activity. Anyway, this is a charming tale about someone who was, by this account, a good man and someone well worth knowing about. We know about him because of his success in baseball, something the majority in society recognized as an accomplishment and that earned him respect. "The Ageless Satchel Paige" is from Treasure Chest Vol. 8 # 17, April 23, 1953.

Published by George A. Pflaum of Dayton, Ohio, the original Treasure Chest series ran from 1946-1972 and was only available on subscription or through Catholic schools, where they were a classroom resource. Until the 1960s the comics were published bi-weekly, and thereafter were monthly and twice the size. More information on Treasure Chest is available in a Wikipedia entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasure_Chest_%28comics%29

Crossing the Divide: The Harlem Globetrotters (1)

2011-04-04T07:57:00.004-04:00

In the early 1950s, Ziff-Davis published Bill Stern's Sports Book, a comic book in the sports genre. Volume 2 # 2 (Winter, 1952) was a 100 page square bound 25c comic, and contained several stories featuring African American sports stars. The first in the book (and the hardest to scan!) was about the origins of the Harlem Globetrotters. Drawn by Everett Raymond Kinstler, it's an artistic gem, but it's also an interesting read as it follows the early exploits of the world's most famous basketball team. What's important to remember is that this comic was published during the period when segregation was still in force in the USA. The Globetrotters are another example of African American sports personalities who were able to induce members of the majority population previously entrenched in a dualistic stance on race, at least to some extent traverse the race barrier. Like all African American sports personalities of the time, in addition to having to make a name for themselves in their field, the Globetrotters had thrust upon them the responsibility of representing the African American community or 'race' as a whole, an unwholesome burden inflicted by a society divided along racial lines.

For sportsmen like the Harlem Globetrotters, that hard-earned recognition made its own contribution to breaking down the race barrier, even though such representation should never have been necessary in the first place. But that was how American society had evolved at the time, on its road towards making the words of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States become a reality. Looks like the Globetrotters also had the privilege of being some of the first people to have their portraits drawn by Kinstler, for whom several U.S. Presidents have subsequently sat! Kinstler nowadays is recognized as one of the greatest portrait artists of all time.

Crossing the Divide: Joe Louis (1)

2011-04-03T05:03:00.003-04:00

One of the stages in racial integration and desegregation in the United States was the period in which famous African American sports personalities became widely accepted for their achievements thus 'proving' racial equality. Although in one sense it is deplorable that such 'proof' should be required, it is nevertheless undeniable that this phenomenon occurred, and it is reflected in comic books of the period. In boxing this goes back to the early 20th Century heavyweight champion Jack Johnson (champ from 1908-1915). Society was so racially charged at that time that the famous author Jack London called for a 'great white hope' to come forth and defeat Johnson. It wasn't until Joe Louis became champ from 1937-1949 that an African American boxer was admired by all regardless of race. Louis's undermining of Hitler's 'Master Race' theory by defeating Max Schmeling was certainly influential in this regard.

Sports comics as a genre tend to simply report the achievements of great sports stars, and the comic book series featuring them inevitably run out of material, the one example I can think of that doesn't follow this format being the Harlem Globetrotters Gold Key series of the early 1970s based on the Hanna Barbera TV cartoon. Because they are seen as sports memorabilia, sports comics are collected by sports fans, irritatingly driving the price up for comic book collectors. Here's one that I managed to get for a 'reasonable' price, Fawcett's Joe Louis Champion of Champions 2. In the early 1950s Fawcett seemed very serious about breaking into the African American comics market. They published Negro Romances (3 issues) and a variety of sports comics featuring African American sports personalities (e.g. Joe Louis, Jackie Robinson). Unfortunately none lasted long, and it must mean that poor sales caused them to cancel publication. Whether racist distributors were the reason for the poor sales (as happened with Dell's Lobo in the 1960s) I don't know, but at least Fawcett made a significant effort to change the comic book landscape and introduce diversity in a bigger way at the time than any other comic book company. So here's the Joe Louis story from Joe Louis 2. I've uploaded the entire comic to the Digital Comic Museum and you can download it from http://digitalcomicmuseum.com/index.php?dlid=14202

Out Of This World will be featuring some more examples of African Americans in sports comics in the future, so watch this space!

Nurses as Objects in Comics: Dogface Dooley 3 - "The Tattooed Sergeant"

2011-04-02T15:01:00.003-04:00

This 1952 Magazine Enterprises comic book, Dogface Dooley 3, has a cover that swipes one of Stan Lee's standard Nellie the Nurse gags, with the thermometer exploding as the patient (here Dogface Dooley) experiences a rising temperature in response to the visual stimulation offered by a sexy-looking nurse in a tight uniform. As is often the case, the cover is somewhat misleading, as the event depicted bears no resemblance to what actually happens in the stories inside. There is, however, one story that does include nurses, and certainly lives up to the reputation for objectification of nurses established by the cover.

It's not a particularly flattering image of soldiers either, but it is a funny book after all. The full comic has been uploaded to the Digital Comic Museum and is available at http://digitalcomicmuseum.com/index.php?dlid=14203.

Beatniks in Comics: A Sampler, Part 3

2011-03-31T10:13:00.002-04:00

The cartoon left (from The Adventures of Jerry Lewis 68, Jan/Feb 1962) ironically depicts a girl picturing the 'square' guy as a desirable beatnik, rather the opposite of mainstream society's opinion at the time!

For this final look at beatniks as they appeared in early 1960s American comic books, here's another page (below) from a Bob Oksner DC comic, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis 1 (May/June 1960). It shows Dobie's Beatnik buddy, Maynard, with his tendency to walk around lost in the music that's going on inside his head. While not unkind, this typically in one sense detached-from-reality image of the beatnik found in the comics of the early 60s suggests individuals not in tune with mainstream society, but instead seeking an alternate world view on their own terms. On this page from Dobie Gillis 1, Maynard's tapping on the store window frame is mirrored by Dobie tapping him on his shoulder to break his internal musical reverie and bring him back out into the 'real' world of the rest of humanity.

Unusually, in Dobie Gillis 1, there is also a four page Maynard story, featuring a female beatnik friend of Maynard as well. Unfortunately the non-conformity of this pair of beats comes back on Maynard, who suffers humiliation as a consequence of failing to observe acceptable driving etiquette. There's a subtle message here, that okay you beatniks are free to be 'different' if you want, but if you don't conform to societal norms that really matter to the rest of us, you are going to be sorry. This fits in with the general image that seems to be presented of the beatnik - basically a bunch of people struggling to find their identity, not getting 'with it' in terms of society's expectations, and being seen as failures or bums as a result, laughable because of their choice to take a different route.

Taking this deadbeat view of beatniks to the extreme, Mad (of course) re-writes 'My Fair Lady' into the story of a beatnik that one corporate guy challenges another to transform into an advertising man, again suggesting that the beatnik is seen (by society and not necessarily by Mad) as the lowest of the low. Somehow the conversion of the beatnik into a manipulative money-maker is seen as desirable from society's point of view, rather than accepting Irving Mallion (played by a cartoon of Frank Sinatra) as a valuable free-thinking individual in his own right. The satire here is all directed at the topsy-turvy value system by which western society is run. This from Mad 54 (April 1960), with art my Mort Drucker and written by Nick Megliola.

What we've seen over the last three Out Of This World posts is the image of a very recognizable sub-culture, complete with its own linguistics, behaviors, appearance, paraphernalia, and art forms. Certainly some of what constituted beat culture is still with us today, following its re-absorption into the mainstream. One final example of the late 50s/early 60s comic book fascination with beatniks, again from Mad (#49, September 1959), is this beat translation of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, with art again by Mort Drucker:

Finally, a request from Out Of This World to anyone who reads this. I have for many years been searching for a particular Archie (or Jughead or similar) comic that I had when I was a kid in the 1960s. Somewhere in the comic, Archie introduces a beatnik Jughead to his father, and Jughead responds with the following (that I memorized at the time and have never forgotten):

"Endsville, Daddy-o! Lend me some skin, man! Your heir's a gasser. I dig him the most."

Archie translates this for his father as, "Good afternoon, Sir! Pleased to meet you! You have a fine son. I like him a lot."

At the time I literally couldn't stop laughing when I read this, and kept looking at it over and over and collapsing on the floor in fits of uncontrollable mirth. Although I doubt I could quite recreate the same intense reaction now, I would still really like to get a copy of whatever comic that was. If anyone out there can tell me which issue it is that I'm looking for I would be very happy!

Beatniks in Comics: A Sampler, Part 2

2011-03-30T06:44:00.004-04:00

With this next look at Beatniks in early 1960s comics, Out Of This World turns to DC's The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, drawn by Bob Oksner. This was an adaptation of a TV series from that time. Dobie Gillis is a total womanizer, who constantly looks to play the field, but his best buddy Maynard, although often roped into Dobie's schemes, has a more philosophical yet down to earth perspective, despite appearing scatterbrained and out of touch with reality. Maynard is cast as a beatnik, and has all the lingo, along with the tendency to walk around vocalizing the drum beats in this head. On the cover of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis 4 (Nov/Dec 1960), we can already witness some signs that Maynard is a beatnik - his hair, beard, the clicking fingers, and the use of "man" and "like" as he starts to speak. In part of the story from Dobie Gillis 4, Maynard exhibits another characteristic of beatniks, a love for on-the-spot improvised poetry. Also note Maynard's use of the term "far out".

Later in the same story, Dobie and Maynard are asked to go and pick up the daughter of a friend of Dobie's parents. Maynard's logic is that although the mother is not good-looking, the daughter usually turns out to be a dish. It seems to the reader that when the two boys reach the costume shop where they are to pick up Purity, Maynard is wrong. However, from Maynard's angle of vision, his prediction is correct - Purity, although apparently homely in appearance, very much seems to meet his criteria for attractiveness, not least because she is a female beatnik and, like Maynard, has the tendency to spout poetry.

Maynard is there for the whole 26 issue run of the Dobie Gillis series which, while adapting a 1960s TV show, is sufficiently well-written to still be interesting and funny today. Another DC funny title that at that time was drawn (and possibly written) by Bob Oksner, was The Adventures of Bob Hope. Again, you might think that 50 years later it could be difficult to connect with the humor of the times, but I find it not so. I had a really good laugh reading through a bunch of these, with this comic book version of Bob Hope's obsessions with food, money, and girls done in a way that really is true to his comedy movies and equally humorous. In The Adventures of Bob Hope 72 (Dec 61/Jan 62), Bob is working as an organizer for a beauty contest. The girls are a constant distraction, his attraction for them preventing him from getting things done. His boss comes up with an idea that should help Bob stay on task and not forget what he's supposed to be doing. This sets in motion a series of events that first brings Bob into contact with a beatnik, and then results in him being momentarily mistaken for one himself:

There's a lot of beatnik information in this section of the story. We've got the beard, the bongos, the poetry, and the beatnik on the beach again using the by now familiar linguistics - "man", "like", "cut out", "pad" - beatniks sitting around philosophizing over cups of espresso, the clothes typically worn by male and female beatniks, and an interest in Zen Buddhism, all serve to expand our definition of the beatnik.

Later in the story Bob is recruited by the daughter of a rich businessman, who has a scheme to extract and sell fresh water from a deep water ocean current. Somehow the daughter has gained the impression, from Bob's banter, that he is an expert diver. The daughter works for a university science department, and eventually Bob is introduced to the rest of the team of scientists who will be working with him as he carries out the dive. It doesn't have anything to do with beatniks but it was too funny to leave out:

So that's it for this one. Next up on Out Of This World, one more look at Beatniks in comics from the early 1960s. See you there.

Beatniks in Comics: A Sampler, Part 1

2011-03-29T06:42:00.004-04:00

I have always enjoyed finding references to beatniks in comics, perhaps because they are usually in a humorous context. I don't recall seeing beatniks around in England when I was a kid - mods and rockers, yes, but I don't remember a beatnik, and I was certainly looking out for them. Maybe I didn't used to hang out in the right neighborhoods, or maybe it was more of an American thing, I'm not sure. Maybe they were all 'gone' by the time I was old enough to notice. Anyway, I've put together a selection of bits and pieces here from early 1960s comics that give a little taste of what I'm talking about, and at the end let's see what this collection of snippets from comics of that period tells us about the beatnik phenomenon, as if we were future archaeologists who'd dug up a pile of comic books and were seeking information about the society that produced them.

From the subscription coupon from Mad 67 (Dec 1961), we're already getting a glimpse of what constitutes a beatnik. There seems to be a connection with music. The beatnik wears a certain type of head gear, and has his facial hair trimmed into a beard that is restricted to his chin. He appears to be clicking his fingers, and perhaps this is a behavior associated with beatniks. He's wearing a loose fitting shirt. Certain words or phrases also appear associated with the language of the beatnik - "way out!", "real gone!", "sends me", "pad", "man", and "like". After a bit of research I came across an actual one page beatnik feature that was included in some of the DC funnies in the early 1960s. It was called... 'Beat Nick', and consisted of a collection of gag cartoons featuring this male beatnik character, drawn by Mort Drucker. Here's three, from The Adventures of Jerry Lewis 58, 59, and 62, respectively (May/June 1960, July/Aug 1960, and Jan/Feb 1961).

What these cartoons suggest is that beatniks are unconventional. They are sensitive to the cause of the oppressed, and have a fairly pessimistic view on the state of the world. They are supposedly angry young men. They tend to wear certain types of clothing, that includes baggy sweaters, tight fitting pants, and specific kinds of footwear. Female beatniks seem to wear their hair long, and dress in a similar fashion to the males. The bongo drum seems to be an instrument associated with beatniks, as do cafes with bare light bulbs hanging from the ceiling. More vocabulary - "dig", "crazy", and "chick".

A couple of DC titles of the period actually featured beatnik support characters. One such was A Date With Judy, nearing the end of its run. Judy's boyfriend Oogie's friend, Nervous, was clearly a beatnik. In this short story from A Date With Judy 78 (Aug/Sept 1960), Nervous is trying to land a job in the band of a jazz singer:

The association with bongo drums seems to be confirmed here. Lots more linguistics - "bread", "dad" or "daddio", "the craziest", "the most", "into orbit", and "cool cat". In the next Out Of This World post we'll look at another DC comic that had a beatnik as the buddy of the lead male character, plus when Bob Hope got mistaken for a beatnik.

Bob Oksner's Finest Hour: DC's Pat Boone series

2011-03-28T04:51:00.010-04:00

Out Of This World takes a final look at DC's Pat Boone series today, with three more Larry Nadle stories drawn by Bob Oksner. The first is one of the four page short stories featuring Pat, his wife Shirley, and their four girls. "4 Little Chicks" isn't the only comic book story that provides a window into that cultural phenomenon known as the babysitter - it's a theme used all over, but this one has an unusual twist in that Pat and Shirley have had enough of going out, but they don't want to disappoint the babysitter by telling her she's not needed. I love the club president Becky's 'Swoon with Boone' badge at the end. This story is from Pat Boone 1.

Next here's the campus queen story from Pat Boone 4. Having grown up and gone to college in the UK, where such phenomena are not present, it was a huge eye-opener to eventually witness the sorority rush, tail-gate parties at football games, and all the other events that make up American campus culture. Maybe this is one that has died out now, but clearly it was an element of 1950s and early 60s campus life:

Here's a picture of the Florida State University campus queen of 1952 for comparison (image copyright Time Inc., used in accordance with stated conditions). I think it would have looked better if the float had been pulled by that gorgeous car in the gateway rather than the tractor, but I have no experience in organizing such events. Clearly this was a serious business, similar to the homecoming queen at American high schools:

For a final farewell to Oksner's Pat Boone, here's the main story from Pat Boone 5, in which yet again Pat comes to the rescue in an awkward situation, this time for the high school drama teacher:

Next up, Out Of This World will be taking a look at some more of Oksner's work, amongst others, when we examine the inclusion of beatniks in early 60s comics.

Oh for those bygone days!
But more recently:
The Boone Girls
and The Boone Girls with Pat Boone

DC's Pat Boone Comics: Wholesome Americana

2011-03-27T06:12:00.001-04:00

The cover of Pat Boone 4 is typical of the short run of this late 1950s DC title, in that it uses a large photo of Pat, plus in this case Johnny Mathis and Bobby Darin, about whom there are some text features with illustrations inside. The series ran from Sept/Oct 1959 through May/June 1960, and coincided with Pat's still being a hit record artist, as well as a movie and TV star. We'll start this second look at DC's Pat Boone series with one of the short 5-page stories set in Pat's family, with his wife Shirley and their four young children. The beautifully rendered art is again by Bob Oksner, who drew the entire 5-issue series, and this and the stories presented in the previous post were written by Larry Nadle.

Next here's a collection of the fashion double-page spreads from the centers of Pat Boone 1 through 5, stitched together as well as I could manage. These are very much a feature of DC romance comics of the 1960s, and you can see a wonderful selection of these on Jacque Nodell's romance comics blog, Sequential Crush. Note the "Twixt Twelve and Twenty" title to the fashion pages from Pat Boone 2 - this was the title used by Pat for one of his self-help books for teens.

Pat himself was used in ads in the comics, including this one for men's shoes from the back cover of Pat Boone 5.

Here's a couple of double page gag features drawn by Mort Drucker. "Teens Eye View" is from Pat Boone 3 and "Teen Dates" is from Pat Boone 2.

Here's one of the text features on another star of the time (and still today in this case!): Johnny Mathis from Pat Boone 4.

Each issue contained one or more pages dealing with the numerous Pat Boone Fan Clubs - fan clubs appeared to have been very important to young people at the time, a social group for individuals with a shared interest. Note the cartoon drawn by Pat Boone.

Each issue has information about Pat Boone and his life, and was in fact written by Pat Boone himself, so it's autobiographical. I like this one, from the last issue:

Finally, the letters pages that were also a regular feature. Whether or not Pat answered the letters himself, or even if the letters were genuine, is unknown, but Pat certainly seems to have got into writing those self-help books for teens in the early 60s.

So that's it for this one. As you can see, these comics contained a lot for the Pat Boone fan, more than what has been offered here on this post. These books are tough to find nowadays, but I would say they're important artistically because of the way Oksner drew the stories (different from his other work, for example, on DC's The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis), and for me, this was some of his best work. The absence of speech balloons, and with minimal framing to the panels, this style must have saved on inking but it also looks really great.

Mining for Gold: DC's Pat Boone Comics

2011-03-26T15:58:00.004-04:00

I recently read in an online forum someone describing comic books as largely 'low culture', grudgingly accepting that Art Spiegelman's Maus was justified in winning its award, but that this was the exception rather than the rule in terms of quality where comics are concerned. Of course I completely disagree with such a classist condemnation, and it inspired me to begin a regular look through the archives for some examples of why this guy was talking through his backside. Here's a series that I discovered back in the 1960s when it was already old, and although I have to say the contents didn't appeal to me at the time, designed as it is for female fans of Pat Boone back in the day, I nevertheless even then saw that this was a piece of quality production, with stories written by Larry Nadle and some outstanding artwork by Bob Oksner. 45 years later and looking at it again I see way more than the creators could have consciously put into it - but as a product of its time it inevitably incorporated many aspects of American culture that now provide a primary source for information about America's past. The books contain a multitude of different features, in addition to the expertly drawn stories, which all feature Pat Boone. The main stories have Pat sort of in the background, ending up helping someone with their problems. The second story in each book is shorter, and features Pat, his wife, and their four daughters! They married young, and had four kids before they were in their mid-twenties! What's great about the stories, especially the main feature, is that they are already describing an American cultural phenomenon, that of the movie/rock star and his/her interactions with the adoring public. Secondly, there are all the subsidiary items Oksner uses as props or background in the art, that give a detailed picture of the typical artifacts of the late 1950s American home or town. Lastly, the plots include reference to other American cultural edifices, for example, sororities, and campus queens. The comic itself is also a great piece of Americana. The books are aimed at teens, and so have teen fashion pages, teen cartoons, items about Pat's life and the careers of other stars of the day, and a letters page on which Pat answers the readers who have been writing in about their problems. The content of the stories, along with the fashion and letters pages, makes it fall into the romance genre, as well as being whatever else you might call it. Oksner's art is unusual in that there are no actual word balloons - the speech is connected to the speaker by a line only, if necessary. Along with Oksner's fabulous style, it gives the pages a very open, airy, bright sunny day feel to them. So anyway, here's a few to enjoy, starting with "A Teenager's Dilemma" from Pat Boone 1:

Next up is "An Invitation to Pledge" from Pat Boone 2:

Finally, for today, "Little Boy Lost" from Pat Boone 3. Note the gorgeous fins on that car, plus ponder the possibility that nowadays children's services would have taken the boy into care because of neglect.

Out Of This World will be providing a couple more posts on the Pat Boone comics, taking a look at some of the other material included in these books.

Diversity in Comics: Sealed with a Kiss

2011-03-21T10:50:00.004-04:00

Upon examination, the comic book career of the Archie Comics character Valerie Smith of Josie and the Pussycats is mighty impressive. From her first appearance in 1969 up to the present, she has been a forceful presence in the Archie Universe. Valerie has always been Josie's equal, and often the main protagonist in Josie stories, even in the early days. Archie Comics can been seen over the years since her introduction to have been fairly mute when it comes to outright discussion of race, and their strategy has clearly been to establish diversity through a passive but very present inclusion, with Valerie Smith and then Chuck Clayton being the main vehicles by which they achieved integration. Given that Archie Comics have a heavy, if humorous, focus on romance, it is perhaps surprising that inter-racial relationships weren't in evidence until recently.This post will start with a look at Valerie's first appearance in Josie and the Pussycats 45 (#1), and then bring us up to date with more recent goings on in her fictional life. We pick up the story where Alex Cabot is offering to manage the newly formed group:

This is leading up to Valerie's first moment in comics, and the very first appearance of an African American character in Archie Comics. When she does appear it's clear that Archie Comics are onto a winner. She's cute without being over the top. She seamlessly enters the plot line and has been there ever since.

Alex's sister, Alexandra, is continuously green with envy, having wanted to be the star of the group and have it named after her. As it is she has not only failed to be part of the group, but any real hope of her participation has been undone by Valerie's arrival. Alexandra is, however, endowed with some mild witch powers, which she uses again and again to try and upset the Pussycat applecart. Her magic can be nullified by the click of some fingers, and anyway things never seem to go quite how she planned.

Now let's take a look at 21st Century Valerie, in Archie 608 from 2010. The Archies and Josie and the Pussycats are going to tour together. They've agreed on equal billing, but Alex Cabot, thinking he's looking out for his band, has tricked them all into signing a contract that has the Pussycats top of the bill, So when the posters go up...

Alex's trickery is exposed in the discussion with the promoter, and it's all sorted out amicably between everybody, leading to...

The practice in Archie's garage (The Ramones they aren't!) goes well, and Archie and Valerie have been working together on a song for the end of the show. Everyone else leaves except for these two...

Some real chemistry is there between Archie and Valerie, and the song quickly takes shape, along with something else that readers might have not expected, except it was way up front on the cover, which we're saving for now!

More than 40 years after Valerie's introduction, we have the first inter-racial romance in Archie Comics! I think Archie Comics have to be commended. They have never resorted to blaxploitation. Their African American characters promote a wholesome image, and once diversity was introduced, the company maintained it with a high profile. Once they made that move they never looked back, and its been all positive. For those of you who are hanging on the edge of your seat, here's a bit of what happened in the next ish - starting with the cover, which suggests this romance could end in heartbreak, but it doesn't turn out exactly like it looks. Archie 609 begins with the two bands on the tour. At the end of the set, Archie and Josie sing the song he and Valerie wrote, and this becomes a prompt for both to reflect on the relationship that has developed between them.

Archie and Valerie start seeing a lot of each other outside of work, and inevitably people start to notice

Archie's Dad advises his son that at some point soon he needs to let other people know about his relationship with Valerie, not least because his behavior and inaccessibility has Betty and Veronica wondering. Archie and Valerie agree to keep things quiet until the end of the tour, so as not to disrupt the groups' concentration, but plan on going public once it's over. However, one by one, almost everyone figures out what's going on...

and...

To everyone's surprise, at the end of the last show of the tour, Melody takes matters into her own hands, and introduces a slight change for the last song - it will be sung by the two composers..

Apparently, by now, everybody is in the know, including the audience, with the single exception of Veronica, who reacts quite angrily to the revelation. But it all goes well, with Archie and Valerie, the two 'love birds', wowing the audience with their own song. This leaves Betty and Veronica with a lot to ponder.

Then fate intervenes. Josie and the Pussycats are invited to do a European tour. Valerie insists she won't go without Archie, but Archie points out that he still has to finish high school, and Valerie will lose out on a chance to build her career if she doesn't go. Does this mean Valerie has graduated already? Is she older than Archie? Or does her career as a musician justify her taking time away from school attendance? Any Archie buffs out there with the answers?

Anyway, Valerie's tears on the cover of Archie 609 are actually, we now find out, because she's going off to tour Europe without him, and they won't see each other for a while. They are going to stay in touch, by texting, etc. The final page seems to indicate that this isn't over between Archie and Valerie at all.

So although the next issue gets into a totally different plot line, maybe there will be more on Valerie and Archie in the future. On reflection, it seems to me that the company just can't go all the way and have Archie marry Valerie, even a few years down the road. He's America's favorite teen, and despite the myriad of clones produced by practically every other company in comics over the decades, he's beaten off all the competition and he's still there. If the company produced a series about Archie's future married life (would he and his wife then become a clone of Blondie and Dagwood?), as they did with the two dreams in which Archie married Betty and then instead Veronica, but in Archie 'real life', might it then spoil the uncertainty that has been a driving force in the series since the 40s - will it be Veronica or Betty who wins Archie in the end? It would make all that rivalry pointless for the reader, because we'd know, from the series about Archie's future, who he ends up marrying, even if it's Valerie instead of either of them. So just how far Archie Comics are prepared to go with this Valerie relationship is difficult to predict. From Betty's reaction in this story it does seem that she actually cares more for Archie than does Veronica, to whom Archie is perhaps something of a desirable trophy.

What is also really interesting to me is that this story is actually a romance. It has no sex in it. It's cute, sweet, and innocent, but from what I can gather it was a real hit with the fans. It does suggest that there is, still, or again, a market for romance comics that don't get dirty. Exactly who the audience for Archie is nowadays would be very interesting to find out. For me, this has raised a lot of questions about what's happening in comics.

Early Black Comic Book Heroes: Butterfly (II)

2011-03-18T16:54:00.005-04:00

Tucked away in the interior of Skywald's Hell-Rider 2 (Oct 1971) is an 11-page complete story that is the second and last appearance of The Butterfly, the first ever African American super-heroine in comics. Written by Gary Friedrich, with plot and art by Rich Buckler, whose concept Butterfly was, we read the tale of "The Butterfly Against the Brothers of the Crimson Cross". We are introduced to Tony Morris, FBI special investigator, who looks like he was going to be the romantic interest for Marian Michaels, alias The Butterfly, but the corporate power of the big guys in the comic book industry at the time made sure Skywald would fold, so we never found out. In this issue Butterfly's opponents are a Ku Klux Klan-type white supremacist secret society with a leader who's penetrated the upper levels of power in Washington. The mission of the Brothers of the Crimson Cross is nothing less than the total eradication of non-white races in America - Nazi racism reborn in the USA. 11 pages wasn't a lot to tell this tale, but Friedrich and Buckler manage it, even if it is a little succinct in places, especially towards the end. So here it is:

Marian and Tony don't fit any negative stereotypes. They've each made a decent career for themselves in their own spheres of activity. Both are really upstanding, principled people, from what we've managed to learn about them. It's a really positive image of African Americans, but their mere presence in the comic wasn't achieved without some difficulty. BrittReid connected me with an interview on another blog, with Rich Buckler, that reveals just how front line this Butterfly character was, even in 1971 - it's well worth a read. As for Hell-Rider 2, just need to say that the great painted cover was again by Harry Rosenbaum. Readers whose letters were published in issue 2 raved about the mag, and one rightly identified Hell-Rider as a new type of hero that was going to change comics - well he did, conceptually, but as Ghost Rider in Marvel!

Many thanks again to Jodyanimator for the scans. BrittReid has also presented the Butterfly stories from Hell-Rider 1 & 2, with more of the Hell-Rider pages from issue 1 than have been provided here on Out Of This World. So if you'd like to take a look at BrittReid's Blog, and check out his shop with Butterfly products, here's some links:

http://heroheroinehistory.blogspot.com/2011/02/butterflythe-first-black-superheroines.html

http://heroheroinehistory.blogspot.com/2011/02/butterflythe-first-black-superheroines_16.html

http://heroheroinehistory.blogspot.com/2011/02/butterflythe-first-black-superheroines_17.html

http://heroheroinehistory.blogspot.com/2011/02/butterflyagainst-brothers-of-crimson.html

http://heroheroinehistory.blogspot.com/2011/02/butterflyagainst-brothers-of-crimson_21.html

Early Black Comic Book Heroes: Butterfly (I)

2011-03-17T08:27:00.010-04:00

Hell-Rider was a black and white magazine published by Skywald (Sol Brodsky and Herschel Waldman) in the early 1970s, and it ran for just two issues, thanks to brutal competition from Marvel. Issue #1 features the origin of Hell-Rider, by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito, and the way the book is put together is interesting as a concept. There are two other features in the book - The Butterfly, and The Wild Bunch - but rather than be separate entities, their stories are part of the bigger Hell-Rider story.The book has a painted cover by Harry Rosenbaum.

We're going to pick up the story at the Butterfly chapter, because she happens to be the first African American female superhero in comics, that little piece of important comic book historical knowledge courtesy of fellow blogger Britt Reid. So far in the story we've been treated to Hell-Rider's origin, and introduced to the bad guys, a bunch of heroin smugglers dressed up as cats. Gary Friedrich's involvement in this script, and subsequently in the creation of Ghost Rider at Marvel, is no coincidence - there are a lot of similarities. Anyway, the story so far is that Brick Reese, upon graduating Harvard Law School, doesn't want to follow his dad's footsteps into his law firm. Instead he goes out to the West Coast, and starts riding with a gang of Hell's Angels known as The Wild Bunch, living a debauched lifestyle. Then he gets called up, and ships out to Vietnam. His tour of duty is just about over when he's caught in an ambush and badly wounded. He recovers after surgery, but still has a bullet lodged near his brain. He agrees to be a guinea pig for a new shot that it is hoped will dissolve the bullet, and it's working, only the side effects are similar to the super-soldier serum used on Steve Rogers to turn him into Captain America. Brick has superhuman strength. Back in the States he gets a call from his Uncle Richard, telling him he's inherited some dough from his grandfather. Brick buys himself a nice home and throws a lot of parties. He also gets himself a cool Harley chopper. But boredom, and dwindling financial resources, prompt Brick to get a job with his uncle's law firm. He's just started when this happens:

Brick goes to the party, wary of Julie Storm's previous addiction to hard drugs. He keeps an eye on her, and notices her being bundled away by a guy dressed in a cat suit. It turns out that the boss of the cat gang, The Claw, wants to see her. He was the one who pushed the heavy drugs onto her in the first place, but although he's not pleased that she's managed to kick her smack habit, what he really wants are the boots she wears on her performances. For some reason he's hidden lots of heroin in those boots, and he wants it back!! Julie's happy to give him the boots, except she already gave them away to a singer friend of hers, Marian Michaels, who works in Las Vegas, which is where The Butterfly comes in. You'll note that she combines the use of an Adam Strange-style jet pack with sucker-tipped fingers like the Beetle, as well as the power to use blinding light that preempts the eventual appearance of the Dazzler in the X-Men years later:

So this leads the reader into The Wild Bunch chapter of the story. The Wild Bunch has an African American member, Deke:

Without really asking any questions, The Wild Bunch accept the task of taking the boots to Brick Reese in LA, but on the road they begin to have doubts.

The Wild Bunch stop to talk, and right then The Claw and his goons speed past in a limo. The Claw spots the boots on the back of a bike, pulls up, and sets his men loose to recover the drugs. The Wild Bunch win the fight, but while they're engaged in the melee, the Claw swipes the boots and escapes, leaving his men behind. Cut to Vegas and Marian, alias Butterfly, along with Ruby of The Wild Bunch:

Meanwhile the Wild Bunch catch up with The Claw and retrieve the boots, but are then outnumbered by The Claw's reinforcements, parachuting in from choppers. Slink, however, escapes with the boots, and makes it to Vegas and to Marian and Ruby's room. The rest of the Wild Bunch are tied to stakes in the desert and left to die. In Vegas Ruby examines the boots, discovers the heroin, and they put in a call to Brick:

It turns out, meanwhile, that The Claw and his men have some kind of fascist commune out in the desert, and they're funding the build up of a private army by selling drugs. The Wild Bunch manage to escape to freedom, jumping a chasm on their bikes (this was in the age of Evel Knievel!). Claw, however, had already flown off in his chopper to get the boots from Slink and the girls in Vegas. He gets there, but Ruby and the others stall him, in the hope that Brick will arrive in time to help. Brick is on his way okay, as Hell-Rider. The story actually started with this great double-paged splash...

...which is reprised by another spectacular entrance from Hell-Rider:

And so it's all over, for now, until the next, and what turns out to be the last issue. Here's some background on the book that was printed at the beginning of the magazine, and also some biographic info on Andru & Esposito.

In the next Out Of This World post, we'll take a look at the second issue of Hell-Rider, and The Butterfly's part in that. We'll also attempt to analyze the image presented by Marian Michaels, alias The Butterfly, the first female African American super-heroine. Thanks to Jodyanimator for the scans.

Diversity in Comics: Chuck Clayton and Archie

2011-03-14T20:16:00.005-04:00

Going into Fall of 1971, Archie Comics introduced the second of their main African American characters, Chuck Clayton (the first being Valerie Smith of Josie and the Pussycats). Chuck appeared simultaneously in Life With Archie 112 and Jughead 195, both August 1971. Significantly, both Valerie Smith and Chuck remain major characters is the Archie Universe today. The first of these two stories, "Poor Little Rich Man", has a gentle anti-racist message - unusual for Archie comics, which mainly stick to the inclusion without comment method of establishing diversity. It's interesting that right from the beginning Archie are developing details of Chuck's background, like here where we learn he has a blind cousin called Jenny. In fact it is blind Jenny who undoes the fallacy of discrimination that is based on bodily characteristics, when she says, "When you're blind there is no such thing as prejudice for how a person looks or color of skin. Everybody becomes the same!"

In Jughead 195, there's a short 6-page story featuring Chuck Clayton in which he emerges as the more sensible and level headed out of Archie, Reggie, and himself. The supposed experts at dating, Archie and Reggie, give Chuck advice on how to get Georgette to go on a date with him. Their typically chauvinistic ideas fall flat on their face, while Jughead's simple, straightforward solution is all Chuck needs. Again, we're given some background details on Chuck as he's introduced into the Archie line-up. He's interested in a girl, Georgette, who is also African American, but he's not yet been on any dates with anyone. I'm also impressed by the way Archie comics don't get into blaxploitation. Their African American characters are given positive images.

Chuck's first appearance on the cover of a comic appears to have been Archie Annual 23 (1971-72), but it could also have been Life With Archie 115 (Georgette appeared without Chuck on the cover of 114).

Chuck Clayton was here to stay.

This time thanks to Jojo for some of the scans and to the Grand Comics Database for covers and information on Chuck Clayton's earliest appearances.

Diversity in Comics: Marcy and Bunny (II)

2011-03-13T15:39:00.003-04:00

Here's another few stories from Bunny featuring The Soular System, Harvey's African American contingent in this late 60s/early 70s teen humor comic with a heavy dose of flower power. The first, "Jive Happening", is from Bunny 9, and is replete with all kinds of contrived pseudo-hippie speech patterns and vocabulary. At the same time it does capture something genuine from the times, mainly through the use of pop-art lettering, and a love and peace vibe that especially surrounds Soular System. As an example of a popular cultural artifact attempting to be 'in the groove', it is representative of a whole range of phenomena aspiring to be 'hippie' but only succeeding in being somewhat removed from the reality of actual hippie culture, with all its drug-taking and debauchery. So the pseudo-hippie culture, to which this series belongs, evidences a kind of first wave of influence of actual hippie culture on the mainstream. Nowadays, of course, you're likely to hear "White Rabbit" being played as you glide up a building in an elevator, or stroll round the supermarket doing your shopping!

All these Bunny comics have fashion pages like those found in the Marvel teen humor books, and in DC romance comics, not to mention Katy Keene, and so on. Marcy Sweete, being a model, is included. The first two are from Bunny 20, and the second two are from Bunny 9.

Here's a 6-page short story from Bunny 20, featuring the difficult-to-tolerate Esmeralda, and the Soular System. Note the new fashion - hot pants! We're into the early 70s.

In "Shakes Soul" (Bunny 20), Honey gets herself in a tight spot with a class assignment. This provides an opportunity for Soular System to explain just what 'soul' is.

Back in Bunny 9 there was a text page with one of those fictional interviews, in this case between Bunny and Gideon of Soular System. Here the creators of the comic try to define 'soul' in more detail.

Overall Bunny was a bold effort to introduce diversity into comic books, starting at the tail end of the Silver Age. There's a little bit of a 'roots' look to the Soular System, with some African style clothing. And the whole thing about soul tries hard to connect with the African American mainstream. Soular System are out and out good guys, and their 'groovy' language is a hippie stereotype rather than an African American one. This was definitely a feel good attempt to better reflect the diversity of American society, and the racial harmony that could exist.

Again, thanks to Britt Reid for turning me on to this title, and to Masterbowler and the Harvey Preservation Society for the scans.

Diversity in Comics: Marcy and Bunny (I)

2011-03-11T07:07:00.012-05:00

Thanks to blogger Britt Reid, who commented on one of my recent posts, I was alerted to the presence of an African American character in the Harvey Comics teen humor series Bunny. Britt told me the first issue Marcy Sweete appeared in was #7 (February 1969), and sure enough, here's the story, which also introduces her band, The Soular System. Marcy, like Bunny, is a model, so there seems to be a bit of a similarity here between this comic and Millie the Model with her African American colleague, Jill Jerold, who first appeared in Modeling With Millie 48 (Aug 1966). But Bunny is way more than a Millie, or Archie series rip-off. A 25c giant, it ran for 20 issues straight, from December 1966 through December 1971, with a final reprise issue #21 in November 1976. It's really over-the-top pseudo-hippie flower power with extremely contrived hippie linguistics and pseudo-hippie stereotypes everywhere you turn. As a cultural artifact, it's probably the best I've encountered of its type. It has fashion pages and letters pages, even a club in which readers can be card-carrying members. Marcy, and Jill Jerold, are Silver Age African American support characters, and therefore members of a very limited category in comics.

The story that introduces Marcy and The Soular System, with its flower power lettering here and there, is a zany modeling story that ends up in a club where Bunny introduces her boyfriend to The Soular System. Pay particular attention to the last page of the story. The Soular System band members accept Bunny and Arnold as friends, upon being introduced by Marcy, so the friendship between the two young women has acted as a catalyst for the development of a wider mixed-race social group.

As Britt pointed out to me, the first Bunny issue with Marcy on the cover is #11. This issue actually contains a strange, 3-page Marcy story, that concludes a few pages later on a text page featuring a fictional interview between Bunny and Archimedes Gold, 'the world's ultra-brainiest boy inventor'. Bunny does have a portfolio of support features, such as the comedy superhero strips, Fruit Man, and Sooper Hippie, that are also interesting reads.

The 3-page Marcy story in Bunny 11 also features the other members of The Soular System, Gideon, Bomby, and Randolph, who are significant characters in their own right, and have roles in other Bunny stories featuring Marcy.

Many thanks to Masterbowler and the Harvey Preservation Society for the scans. In the next Out Of This World post, we'll be looking at another story featuring Marcy, plus her inclusion in the fashion pages.

Diversity in Comics: Tiny and Little Audrey

2011-03-10T18:47:00.008-05:00

Little Audrey was originally published by St. John but later became a Harvey Comics title. In the mid-1950s, totally against the norm for mainstream comic books, it included an African American character, Tiny, who wasn't some bizarre stereotype, but was just a normal kid like the other characters in the stories. He hung out with Audrey and Melvin, and participated in the group's adventures. He even had his own feature. In this first Audrey story, from Little Audrey 42 (June 1955), Tiny is one of the main protagonists. There's no racial disharmony, and race isn't mentioned - it isn't presented as an issue. This is just a bunch of kids who are friends and do stuff together.

This next Audrey story, again from Little Audrey 42, also features Tiny, who is as much in difficulty in dealing with the intellectual new girl as are the others.

Finally, here's a solo Tiny story, from Playful Little Audrey 2 (August 1957). The cover is typical of Harvey kids' comics covers from the 50s and 60s.We learn a little about Tiny's background from this one. He's got a cute mom. The family lives in a nice house, and Tiny is well-dressed. This looks like a middle class part of town. They have a nice yard as well. So Harvey are not trying to lay a whole ghetto image on Tiny. There's no blaxploitation here. Tiny's a middle class kid from a well-resourced home.

If you're interested in reading another Tiny story, there's one from Playful Little Audrey 4 over on Mykal Banta's blog, The Big Blog of Kids' Comics. You'll have to scroll down past the first two Audrey stories (or read them first on your way down the page). Anyway - interesting stuff! Smack bang in the middle of the still segregated 50s, when there were, with very few exceptions, no African American characters in mainstream fictional comics, we've got a character appearing fairly regularly, even getting his own strip. How revolutionary is that!!! Many thanks to Green Giant for the Little Audrey 42 scans, and SOTE for the Tiny story.

Diversity in Comics: African Americans in the Funny Books

2011-03-09T10:41:00.011-05:00

As African American characters gradually appeared in mainstream comic books in the latter half of the 1960s, the publishers of funny books began to illustrate greater diversity in their fictional populations. I do seem to remember an African American character appearing in Richie Rich comics around this time, but I'm unable to find an example. Instead here's the second issue of Josie and the Pussycats (#46, art by Dan DeCarlo), which I think is the first Archie cover featuring an African American character, from Feb 1970. Valerie Smith first appeared in the previous issue (Dec 1969), joining Josie's new band, and is now on the cover of issue 46. In this particular story she is not the main focus, but is there throughout. Here's a couple of pages that are typical of her level of involvement:

And again, later on, she's obviously an equal member of the cast of characters in this comic. In this story she's as much in evidence as is Josie.

Almost like a romance comic, there's a double page fashion feature, again including Valerie:

There's no big fuss made about race with Valerie - she's simply included in the new line up as the book changed direction (and the characters became hugely successful!). Also introduced in Archie comics was Chuck Clayton, an African American male character who first appeared in August 1971 in Jughead 195 and Life With Archie 112. His first cover appearances were on Life With Archie 115 and Archie Annual 23 (see images below from the Grand Comics Database).

Below are a few more images I borrowed from the Grand Comics Database that illustrate some other 1970s funny/teen humor comics that featured African American characters. The first issues of Harlem Globetrotters (Apr 1972 - Jan 1975) and Fat Albert & the Cosby Kids (March 1974 - Feb 1979), published by Gold Key are shown here - these two series are related to TV cartoon shows.

Fast Willie Jackson was a short-lived series that had a majority African American cast. Published by Fitzgerald, this Archie-style teen humor book ran from Oct 76 - Sept 77. For comparison, here's an Archie cover from July 1977 with a similar dance scene to that on Fast Willie Jackson 1 - not much change at Archie since Valerie Smith debuted in 1970.

If anyone knows any other information on the early appearances of African American characters in funny comics (not disrespectful stereotypes) it would be greatly appreciated if you could post it in a comment here. The earliest I have heard of is 'Tiny', a friend of Little Audrey in the Harvey Comics' series of that name, in the mid-1950s! What I'm also interested in is any ideas for analyzing these images. Were the Archie books including token African American characters to be politically correct, or did they have a serious agenda through which they aimed to more accurately represent diversity in American society in their very American comic books?

Social History in Comics: Dr. MLK Jr.

2011-03-04T12:08:00.004-05:00

Although victims of racial discrimination and the whole segregation debacle, the African Americans subscribing to Dr. MLK Jr.'s combined Gandhian and Christian approach to winning social and political change exhibit a remarkable level of tolerance towards their oppressors, as evidenced by this publication from the Fellowship of Reconciliation. The first part of the book recounts the history of MLK Jr.'s life and his connection with the Civil Rights Movement. It's reassuring to see that white supporters of racial equality are acknowledged.

The rest of the book gives us a fascinating glimpse, not only into King's approach to achieving change, but to the prevailing conditions that necessitated his tactics. It's uncomfortable but necessary reading, especially because it allows us to observe a baseline by which the outcomes of the Civil Rights Movement can be assessed. The discomfort comes from the unpleasant truth regarding the unjust way a whole section of American society was oppressed and discriminated against.

It's an amazing piece of primary historical evidence that documents King's philosophy, with illustrative examples, and it's especially interesting that it seemingly comes from an African American perspective, although the Fellowship of Reconciliation was not a race-based organization. It's actually a piece of propaganda from an ideological, pacifist 'war' against the tyranny of oppression - very, very American in its underlying principles, and in line with the philosophy at the fundamental core of human rights.

If you enjoyed this comic you might like to read the Golden Legacy Illustrated History of the Life of Martin Luther King Jr.

Nurses as Objects in Comics: Joe Yank 12 - "The Battle of the Sexes"

2011-03-01T18:01:00.005-05:00

Joe Yank was an early 50s Standard title of a kind of war comedy genre. Private Joe Yank and Sgt. Mike McGurk are the two main characters. I just acquired this comic, but I'm using pages from the scan available in the Digital Comic Museum. In this story, "Battle of the Sexes" by Ross Andru, we have a perfect example of image discrimination coupled with sexist exploitation of the female form. You'll also note the misleading cover, which depicts a scene that is not part of the actual story. What happens is McGurk gets hospitalized, and in the ward he encounters a nurse who doesn't fit the usual comic book stereotype of the pinup. With little else to do, and with a score to settle with Joe Yank, McGurk hatches a plan to make the Private experience some serious discomfort. He exploits the plain nurse's eagerness to find a man, and her unattractive features, to carry out his scheme.

Joe Yank turns up at the hospital to visit McGurk, and his first encounter with the nursing staff feeds his expectations, based on the kind of nurse image typically promoted by the male mind indulging in fantasy. This softens Joe Yank up for McGurk's ruse, and he buys it, hook, line, and sinker.

Joe Yank goes on his date, only to find he's been had. All he can think of from the moment he meets the man-hungry homely nurse is how to get away, and in the end he has to resort to some extreme measures.

I know it's a comedy designed most likely for male military readers, but I can't help feeling that there's something not right about the way the unattractive woman is made fun of and is also humiliated. Not all women and not all nurses look like Marilyn Monroe.

Kind of an unusual nurse tale that raises some interesting questions about attitudes towards women in the early 1950s.

Diversity in Comics: Adventure Comics 411 - "The Alien Among Us"

2011-02-27T03:54:00.003-05:00

From the era of the misleading cover, the scene depicted here on Adventure Comics 411 (October 1971) doesn't occur in the actual story inside. Nevertheless it does accurately hint at the inclusion of an African American character, in this case a little boy. The story begins with Linda Danvers working at her TV station job, where she has an evil co-worker bent on exposing her secret identity of Supergirl. When Linda makes excuses to leave and investigate reports of an alien sighting, her enemy plans to follow her, but someone else delays the party-pooper on purpose - looks like a couple of people in the office know Linda is Supergirl.

The first African American character encountered in the story is, however, not the little boy, but a stereotypical street thug. At least he's part of a mixed race gang. When the police end up having difficulty dealing with the situation, Supergirl has to intervene.

The alien escapes, and Supergirl ends up being blamed by a group of influential local old geezers who haven't subscribed to the Feminist Movement. Talk about male chauvinists!

The next page tries to illustrate the inhumanity of humanity, by referring to persecution of people of difference from a variety of categories. The mob seizes upon anything who violates mainstream norms, accusing anyone different of being the alien.

The alien, meanwhile, is hiding in someone's basement, and he's starving. The little African American boy from the cover encounters him, and provides him with food. In return, when the alien notices the boy has a crippled arm, he heals the boy so that he has full use of his appendage - a miracle to Earth people with their current level of medical knowledge and technology. the boy's father, however, doesn't see the full exchange. he's only concerned about the alien, because of the panic the whole community is in, assuming that he's dangerous. Unknown to his son, the father alerts the authorities as to the alien's whereabouts.

The armed police surround the building, and the alien is told to give himself up and he'll not be harmed. When he does, however, the leading chauvinist from the group of male coordinators of the response orders the tank to open fire and the alien is hit.

Instead of a dangerous monster, the alien was a potential savior. The little boy who knew him for who he really was rushes forward in grief and lamentation. The fallacy of the mindless shoot first ask questions later approach is exposed.

I think the story, written by John Albano, is loosely analogous to the tragic demise of Jesus - the mindless, violent, unthinking rabble seeing difference only in negative terms, seeking to destroy that which steps outside the boundaries of their self-defined normality, even if it is something that not only bears no ill will but instead desires the well-being of its detractors. In that way the story also condemns the majority's tendency to commit violence on people of difference, to almost purposely misunderstand and label difference in negative ways that foster fear, hatred, and aggression. The story also highlights the uncontaminated nature of little children, and by extension, the corruption that society subjects them to as they grow up, perhaps to become one of the mass of bigoted, prejudiced, unfeeling adults that hold sway over the collective world view. It's a story that's been told before in comics, and probably one that's been borrowed from a 1950s sci-fi movie and given a fresh coat of paint. It's a story that suggests a society that does contain a portion of people who do care, who want things to be different, otherwise how come we have this story? I'd be asking whether we still have much of that in us today.

Nice art by Bob Oksner, whose work tended not to be on superhero books (see Binky, Buzzy, Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis, Angel and the Ape, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, Miss Beverly Hills, etc. for DC, Terry Vance in Marvel Mystery Comics for Timely in the 1940s - heck, Bob's portfolio goes on and on - he's a major, major comic book artist!). Bob's very bare-legged version of Supergirl would have an unannounced costume change in the next issue, with those shapely gams covered over completely - from one extreme to the other!

Early Black Comic Book Heroes: Mal Duncan (4/4)

2011-02-25T06:38:00.013-05:00

Teen Titans (1st series) resumed publication in November 1976 with issue 44 (cover by Ernie Chan & Vince Colletta), the revival lasting only 10 issues, with cancellation coming after issue 53. The greater struggle of these issues to re-establish the title is reflected in Mal Duncan's equally tortuous battle to carve out a super hero identity. Teen Titans 44 ("The Man Who Toppled the Titans" by Paul Levitz & Bob Rozakis, art by Pablo Marcos) begins with the Titans summoned by Mal Duncan in response to an emergency message. There's some bitterness on Mal's part, as the Titans haven't bothered to keep in touch with him while their team activities were suspended. Mr. Jupiter is no longer part of the picture. As the Titans realize they've all been lured into a trap, the architect of that trap, Dr. Light, appears on the scene.

Dr. Light kidnaps the Titans one by one, until only Mal is left. He doesn't bother to capture Mal, thinking him beneath concern.

Mal laments his lack of super powers. Going through stuff stashed at the Titans' HQ, he comes across the costume of The Guardian, and a captured exoskeleton. Combining the two, he gives himself a superhero identity - the new Guardian, with enhanced strength. He then uses a rocket ship to get to the JLA satellite in orbit above Earth, where he hopes to get some help.

It just so happens that Dr. Light's plan includes taking over the JLA satellite. He's there ahead of Mal, and subdues the Flash. Light then brings the captive Titans to the satellite. This is the situation Mal (now The Guardian) finds when he docks with the satellite. Dr. Light ends up ruing his earlier decision to ignore Mal.

Teen Titans 45 (by Bob Rozakis, art by Irv Novick & Vince Colletta) begins where 44 left off, only Mal is quickly unsettled by Speedy's dig at his lack of super powers. Strange, because both Robin and Speedy don't really possess super powers either, although they do have established costumes and superhero identities that are their own. This is a sensitive issue for Mal, as it has been ever since his introduction into the series. As a results of the jibes, Mal seems to abandon the Guardian identity he adopted in the battle with Dr. Light.

The story in issue 45, "You Can't Say No to the Angel of Death (Or Can You?)" features a Gotham street gang from the past, bent on thwarting developers intent on bulldozing their home turf. Mal now has a girlfriend, Karen Beecher, who tries to calm Mal when he vents his frustrations over the phone. Mal leaves the phone booth still fuming, and blunders into a bomb explosion caused by the street gang. This seems to be Mal's moment of death, and Azrael, the Angel of Death, appears, ready to take him to the beyond. Mal's determination to remain in his Earthly existence results in Azrael offering him the opportunity to fight him for his life.

Mal goes the round with Azrael and wins the bout. Azrael doesn't like that Mal beat him, so he adds a condition to Mal's continued life on Earth - if he's defeated in a single battle, he's dead. The referee of the bout, the angel Gabriel, balances things by giving Mal his mystic ram's horn, which when blown will even the odds if Mal's in a fight.

It turns out that this horn will summon the Titans to Mal's aid. Mal explains what he's learned about the gang that's bent on destruction.

One group of Titans exits to the Wayne Foundation to prevent an explosion there, while Mal's group seeks the street gang's base in Clemont street.

So Gabriel's Horn seems to have taken Mal's identity off in another direction. By issue 49 ("Raid of the Rocket Rollers", Aug 1977, by Bob Rozakis, with art by Jose Delbo & Vince Colletta), we find that Karen Beecher has made herself into Bumblebee, a new African American DC heroine. Mal gets a new costume designed by a reader, and becomes Hornblower.

By the end of the issue, Mal has resumed his Guardian identity, partly because his horn is now missing, taken by somebody he knows not who. For now he keeps that bit of info to himself, and rationalizes his decision to the Titans by explaining that the public knows that Mal Duncan is Hornblower, and so he'll have to retire that identity.

Issue 50, "The Coast to Coast Calamities" (Oct 1977, script by Bob Rozakis, art by Don Heck with Joe Giella inks) picks up where 49 left off, but we don't get to find out what happened to the Horn. Guardian and Bumblebee work together as partners within the Titans team, as they go to face Captain Calamity.

Issue 51 concludes the battle with Captain Calamity, in which the shield-slinging Guardian and the buzzing Bumblebee play their part. By now Bob Rozakis seems to have gone as far as he is able with the characters of Guardian and Bumblebee (art is again by Don Heck, this time with Frank Chiaramonte inks).

The character of Mal Duncan started with some potential, but this seemed to fizzle out with the change of writers working on the Teen Titans series following his introduction. What happened to his kid sister? What about his parents? What do we know, after 25 issues, about this hero?

We know he grew up in a lower-socioeconomic, deprived inner city environment. He's grown up subjected to racial harassment, and sometimes, as a result, expects discrimination even where none exists. He's had to do a lot of fending for himself. He feels inadequate as a Titan because he possesses no super powers. This constant theme of feeling like he has to prove himself perhaps reflects a real societal phenomenon, of African Americans sometimes (as a result of institutional and individual racism) being obliged to prove themselves in situations in which, if they were white, their competence might be assumed. And maybe even then not be accepted on equal terms. If Bob Kanigher, who created the character, had continued to write Teen Titans, then it might be possible to say for sure that this is the message here. While Bob Haney was writing the Titans, the character did develop. After the cancellation, the revival issues had more superficial plots, and I'm not at all surprised that the series was canceled again, with Mal Duncan going round in circles in an identity crisis, nowhere at all really. The original Teen Titans concept had been exhausted of potential overall, and it would take George Perez to breathe new life into it a few years later.

Early Black Comic Book Heroes: Mal Duncan (3/4)

2011-02-23T06:49:00.007-05:00

In that early 70s transition period when DC were preparing to move from a 15c to 20c cover price, there's that spell where readers were treated to giant size 25c issues that also sported covers with a new look. Teen Titans 35 is one of those, and typically for the few issues around this point in the series, contains a story about an individual Teen Titan. In this case it's Mal Duncan, in "A Titan is Born" (Sept-Oct 1971). With art by George Tuska and Nick Cardy, this 7 page short story by Bob Haney has Mal faced by the escape from limbo of Dr. Victor Heller, alias Gargoyle. As we'd learned from Mal's previous appearances in the comic, he didn't feel completely ready to take on the mantle of being a Titan, but after successfully dealing with this threat, he experiences a kind of coming of age that boosts his self-efficacy and helps him accept his membership of the group. Note the stereotypical reference to limbo dancing, an Afro-Caribbean cultural item, which Mal appears to be preserving as part of his heritage. Unless his family moved to the USA from Trinidad or one of the other Caribbean nations, this makes little sense, unless he considers it part of a much broader African expression of culture.

The next detailed coverage of Mal as a character comes in Teen Titans 38 ("Through These Doors Pass the Bravest Titans of Them All", March-April 1972, art by Tuska and Cardy, story by Bob Haney), which features Wonder Girl, Robin, Mal, and Lilith, and involves Mr. Jupiter's version of a hypnotherapy session. Disguised as a balloon seller, he induces a hallucinatory 'trip' in the minds of Donna, Dick, and Mal, in which they confront their secret fears. In Mal's case he suffers from a kind of agoraphobia, that originated in his childhood when he was chased and beaten up by a white gang in an open space in the city where buildings had been demolished. I have to say that some of these panels have a very Colanesque feel to them. It's almost as if the combination of Tuska and Cardy looks like what I imagine Gene Colan inked by Murphy Anderson would look like.

Similar stuff happens to Robin and Wonder Girl, and they all meet up back at Mr. Jupiter's lab, looking for answers.

Jupiter reveals that he was the balloon seller, and this whole thing was his way of helping the Titans overcome their fears.

Teen Titans 41 again features Mal prominently, in a ghost story, "What Lies in Litchburg Graveyard" (Sept-Oct 1972), that takes readers back to the terrible days of slavery. Art is by Art Saaf and Nick Cardy, with story again penned by Bob Haney. What Mr. Jupiter had failed to tell the Titans until now was that he had an African American aunt, who was born in slavery, escaping north with her father on the Underground Railroad. Jupiter's aunt Hattie is very old and dying, so he's taken some of the Titans with him to visit her for the last time at the family home.

I'm unable to find any academic reference to 'moojum dolls', so it may have been something concocted for this story by Bob Haney. It could be a combination of something like a voodoo doll and a Hopi kachina doll. Thanks to stereotyping in the Judeo-Christian majority world view in America, Africans have been associated with superstitious following of pagan belief systems, and those belief systems themselves have been stereotyped in a derisive manner. So there's the danger of a bit of negative stereotyping creeping into this story, unless we can give equal respect to traditional African/Native American world views, which actually seems to be the tack taken by Haney. On the other hand, there's the assumption that all slaves brought from Africa followed traditional African belief systems, but of course vast numbers of the people brought against their will from Africa were Muslims. Anyway, back to the story, and Mal being haunted by the ghost of the slave catcher who was chasing Jupiter's aunt's father, Ned Jackson, back in the day, but was killed, we discover, by the moojum doll given to Hattie by a shaman when she was a little girl. The ghost thinks Mal is Hattie's father, due to the uncanny resemblance between the two. Hattie knew that the only way to put the ghost to rest once and for all was for him to re-experience his death at the hands of the moojum. First the ghost attacks Mal in his sleep...

...but then there's a running battle in the world of the living, which ends with the moojum doll intervening and taking the slave catcher's ghost to his final demise.

The first series of Teen Titans was approaching a hiatus, with issue 43 being the last before a break of nearly 4 years. Teen Titans returned to publication in December of 1976, still with Mal Duncan, and as we shall see in the fourth and final post in this series about Mal Duncan on Out Of This World, there were efforts to make his identity a little more 'super'.

Epilogue:

The recent and untimely passing away of African American comic writer, Dwayne McDuffie, has been covered by a couple of blogs that I follow, and you can read about him here:

Has Boobs, Reads Comics
Black Superhero Fan
The Comic Book Catacombs

And for the remains of Dwayne's own website and Facebook page:

http://dwaynemcduffie.com/
http://www.facebook.com/Dwayne.McDuffie.Page

Early Black Comic Book Heroes: Mal Duncan (2/4)

2011-02-22T10:13:00.002-05:00

After his introduction to the Teen Titans and the DC universe in Teen Titans 26 & 27, Mal Duncan wasn't again a main focus of a Titans story until issues 32 & 33, a time travel tale begun by Steve Skeates and completed by Bob Haney. Art in both issues was by Nick Cardy, with finishes on issue 33 by George Tuska, and features the first appearance of time-displaced Neanderthal caveman, Gnarrk. Issue 32, "A Mystical Realm, A World Gone Mad" (Mar-Apr 1971), begins with an outcome, and then flashes back through the events leading up to that point. Mal is accidentally transported back in time by a temporal experiment being conducted by Mr. Jupiter. Kid Flash travels back to the Paleolithic using the treadmill by means of which Flash had traveled in time, after Lilith's powers identify the time period he's trapped in. Mal, meanwhile, inadvertently gets roped into a life and death battle with a caveman over a girl. Kid Flash arrives in time to see Mal clinging to a cliff top, about to be finished off by the club of his Stone Age adversary. In saving Mal, Kid Flash is rendered unconscious, and the cave man falls to his death. When Kid Flash comes to, he and Mal realize that the caveman's death has altered the future, hence the early 1970s looks nothing like it's supposed to.

In this alternate 1970s, Mal and Kid Flash find its equivalent of Mr. Jupiter, here a sorcerer, and some Justice League heroes, as well as Lilith and Speedy. They are subjected to a test, after realizing that he is the source of the monster illusions they have been experiencing.

In issue 33 ("Less Than Human?", May-June 1971) we see that a ghost of the dead cave man is apparently behind that door. Passing the tests of Jupiterius gives them the chance to go back in time and correct the mistake they made when the cave man was killed. They succeed, and the alternate reality they had entered upon their first return from the Stone Age is replaced with their own. The 1970s are really back how they should be, with one exception...

...there's just a slight snag - the Neanderthal was holding on to Kid Flash as he returned to his own time, and now finds himself lost in the 1970s. Gnarrk, as he comes to be called, is thoroughly bewildered by his new environment, and lashes out such that Mal has to land a hay-maker on his jaw to quieten him.

So Mal is back where he started, and Gnarrk is now a feature of the 1970s. Readers would see Gnarrk develop a relationship with Lilith fairly quickly, although his adjustment to his future was overall quite traumatic for him. Note that in the last panel on p.7 of "Less Than Human?", there is a printing error with Mal's skin color, suggesting lack of familiarity, on the part of the staff concerned, with inclusion as a policy for the DC universe.

Early Black Comic Book Heroes: Mal Duncan (1/4)

2011-02-20T14:49:00.004-05:00

Mal Duncan (aka the New Guardian, Hornblower) is actually one of DC's earliest black superheroes. Appearing first in Teen Titans (series 1), he joined the group at a point where they had sworn off use of their super powers, after accidentally causing the death of a great social reformer (issue 25). The group takes on secret work under the guidance of the world's richest man, Mr. Jupiter, having to first prove themselves in some tests, which is where the story, "A Penny For a Black Star" (Mar-Apr 1970), in Teen Titans 26, picks up (story by Bob Kanigher, art Nick Cardy). First, a quick summary from issue 27:

The Titans pass the physical, and are then sent to Hell's Corner, a tough inner-city environment, to fend for themselves with just a penny. They use their pennies to buy drinks from a little girl, and in doing so attract the attention of a local street gang, Hell's Hawks, whose turf they have unknowingly blundered into.

The gang starts to rough up the little girl, who happens to be Mal Duncan's younger sister. The Titans, reluctant to break their oath of non-super power use, don't look like they're going to be any help.

Just as well that Mal happens along and jumps in to defend his sister. Seeing him vastly outnumbered, the Titans act, but without going 'super'.

The gang is seen off for now, but Mal is under no illusion that they're finished. He also notices that the Titans don't really have a clue regarding the environment they've wandered into.

Wonder Girl and Lilith do as they've been instructed by Jupiter, and go looking for work, which they find in a local clothing store. The boys end up taking on some youth work.

This brings the Titans back into contact with Mal, who is entered for a boxing match. The Titans first, however, start getting anonymous threats.

In the ring Mal is facing the leader of the evil Hawks gang - it's a real grudge match, which Mal eventually wins. In the changing rooms, after the contest, the gang seeks revenge and has Mal trapped. Now it's the Titans' turn to come to Mal's rescue.

Mal points the Titans in the direction of some evening relaxation, and they insist he accompanies them. Mal is expecting inferior treatment of the kind he's used to receiving from racist whites in his area, and is pleasantly surprised when he is not only accepted as part of the group, but also attracts interest from Lilith. The Titans ask Mal if he'd like to join their secret project, and upon their recommendation, Jupiter puts him through the necessary test.

Mal feels inadequate, like he doesn't deserve to be part of the group, especially since he has no super powers. Although seemingly rather illogical to the reader, Mal figures he can prove his worth by sneaking aboard a one-way rocket trip to Venus, because a live astronaut would be able to increase the scientific results reaped by the mission.

The Titans and Mr. Jupiter are, of course, not going to let Mal sacrifice his life for some data, and so enact a scheme to retrieve him, in issue 27, "Nightmare in Space" (May-June 1970).

The Titans set off on the rescue mission, leaving part of their crew on the Moon, where a whole other adventure, involving some friendly aliens, occurs. Those still in space rendezvous with Mal's Venus probe.

One tricky rescue later, and the command module must now reunite with the group from the lunar surface. All back together, the Titans head for home and more adventures.

Mal became a regular member of the Teen Titans for the remainder of the first series, with some stories featuring him in a minor way, and others focusing wholly or partly on him. The remaining three Out Of This World posts on Mal will cover the main details of his introduction into the DC universe in the early to mid-1970s, with an analysis of the character as he had developed by the final cancellation of the original Teen Titans comic.

Social History in Comics: Our Fighting Forces 159 - "Mile-a-Minute Jones!"

2011-02-17T03:09:00.006-05:00

A Jack Kirby Losers story in Our Fighting Forces 159 (Sept 1975) features a one-off appearance of Mile-a-Minute Jones, an African American soldier. Kirby appears to have played on Bob Kanigher's idea of making Jackie Johnson a world heavyweight boxing champ like the real life Joe Louis from the mid-20th century, by modeling his character on Jesse Owens, the Olympic champion athlete who won golds at the 1936 Games in front of Adolf Hitler, much to the Fuhrer's annoyance.

Jesse Owens starts the 200M at the Berlin Olympics in 1936

The story begins with a group of Nazis coming across an American truck that's been blown up. They check for survivors, anticipating there to be none, but the reckoned wrong. Henry Jones, star track athlete, makes his break for freedom, eluding all of his would-be executioners save one, who also shares his fleet-footedness. Turns out this mercurial Nazi is none other than Henry's old opponent in the Olympic Games, Bruno Borman. Also like Kanigher's Easy Co. story, in which Jackie Johnson slugs it out on the battlefield with his old opponent from the boxing world, here two more old sporting opponents meet in battle in WWII.

Bruno's link with Henry is that strong that he plans to make sure the other Nazis don't kill him. Whether he would have succeeded or not, we'll never know, because it's at this point that The Losers intervene, rescue Jones, and capture Borman, who happens to be holding the map his comrades need for their mission.

The Losers have a plan to capture the Nazi general, and they succeed. The other Nazi soldiers are left imprisoned, while The Losers seek to escape the area with their more valuable prize. Those Nazi troops escape, however, and the speedy Bruno catches up with The Losers and sprints across an open field to tip off the German paratroop patrol he spots in the distance.

As the only one fast enough to have a chance of catching Borman, Jones sets off in pursuit.

Jones relives the experience of being out on the track against Bruno. Just as in the 1936 Olympics, Jones again feels the urgency of undermining the Nazi claim of white racial superiority by running faster than Borman. He gains on Borman, but it reaches the point where he has to make his move if he's going to stop him in time. He leaps, but falls short. The paratroopers are alerted.

As the Nazi paratroopers turn in pursuit of The Losers, they get a deadly surprise - somehow Bruno and Henry had sprinted across a minefield unharmed, but the paratroopers are not so fortunate.

The engineer's tape that had marked the only safe route across the field had also acted as a kind of lane marker for Henry as he ran.

The Losers' ride out of this danger zone arrives. But despite escaping, Henry feels sadness due to the loss of his competitor, who lies dead on the battlefield. There will be no more contests on the track between Mile-a-Minute Jones and Bruno Borman.

The story, written by Jack Kirby, as students of Kirby's work will know, lacks that dimension Stan Lee gave to their collaborations. Nevertheless, this one is quite readable compared to some of his Fourth World material, which gets so convoluted that it often ceases to make sense. This tale is straightforward, and makes a simple point. Along the way we've seen the Nazi assumption of racial superiority again exposed. Although little was made of it at the beginning of the story, the American truck that had been blown up was manned by an African American segregated supply unit, by the looks of it, again bringing into the picture the paradox of segregated America fighting to defeat Nazi racists in an anti-racist war.

Social History in Comics: Sgt. Fury 90 - "The Chain That Binds!"

2011-02-15T14:09:00.002-05:00

This August 1971 issue of Sgt. Fury features an anti-racist story written by Al Kurzrok. Al was a writer for Harvey Comics, and then worked for Marvel mostly as a letterer but did write some 1960s and early 70s stories, including 5 issues of Sgt. Fury. Kurzrok didn't get to pen too many Marvel books. He clearly did his homework on this title, though, because stylistically in many ways it reads like a typical Sgt. Fury book. Although it has an anti-racist message, however, it doesn't deliver this with the same kind of punch that Robert Kanigher or Stan Lee would give a similar story. Given the rarity, even by 1971, of comics taking a stance against racism, it is noteworthy, and should be added to that elite list of anti-racist books. Let's take a look at it. Of course the story highlights Gabriel Jones, and it's another tale, like that in issue 56, that has Gabe on a journey to meet up with the rest of the Howlers. This one starts with him being captured by a Nazi officer on the orders of Hitler himself, who wants to use Gabe as bait in a trap for the rest of the Howling Commandos. Right from the start we're reading racist remarks from the Nazi, and he doesn't let up. The Nazi is motivated by his expectation of considerable reward from the Fuhrer should he succeed in his mission.

As with previous Sgt. Fury anti-racist tales, Southerner Rebel Ralston exhibits the greatest concern for Gabe, continuing the disconfirmation of the 'all southern whites are racists' stereotype that we've seen in anti-racist books in the 50s and 60s.

Gabe meanwhile has to put up with the racist rantings of the Nazi, but handles it well. When their plane gets shot down, they parachute into the snow below. The tables are not quite turned, but circumstances have evened things up a little.

But even Gabe can be pushed too far...

Even though an American patrol passes nearby, Gabe is thwarted in his attempt to get their attention and regain his freedom.

Chained together the two men, complete opposites not because of their respective races but because of their differing world views, continue to battle for the upper hand.

The back and forth dialogue between the Nazi and Gabe has, throughout, exposed the ludicrous yet sinister nature of white supremacist beliefs.

The difference emerges when it becomes clear that the troops they've spotted are American. The Nazi has no qualms about killing Gabe with his knife, and Gabe has to shoot him in order to defend himself. The Nazi's dead after all that, and Gabriel is back with the G.I.'s and will presumably find his way back to the Howlers.

I think this story could have been intended to be allegorical, the chain representing perhaps the institutions in American society that have bound African Americans to racist overlords. If so, then the abrupt ending suggests the racial conflict that had erupted in the Civil Rights era with African Americans pushed to the limit by racist whites unwilling to surrender their assumed superiority. I think that the story seeks, and to some extent succeeds, in ridiculing the racist way of thinking. All that Aryan supremacy stuff. By 1971 people had had enough of their hopes for progress being smashed - assassinations of key leaders, and still no real equality of opportunity in a lot of ways.

Social History in Comics: Two-Fisted Tales 30 - "Bunker!"

2011-02-13T04:31:00.003-05:00

The first occasion that I am aware of on which comics addressed the issue of inter-racial strife within the US armed forces was in Two-Fisted Tales 30 (Nov-Dec 1952), in the story "Bunker!", written by Harvey Kurtzman and drawn by Ric Estrada, with colors by Marie Severin. The famous cover of this issue is by Jack Davis.

The plot of "Bunker!" is straightforward. There's some Chinese soldiers holed up in a very strategically placed bunker, pinning down two platoons of U.S. troops, one segregated African American and the other segregated white. The two groups of American men are on different sides of the bunker, each trying to take the hill on which it is located.

The death of one of the African American soldiers spurs his comrades at arms to a heightened state of military aggression and they succeed in taking out the bunker with grenades, to avenge the fallen man. Consequently the hill is taken by the Americans, only it is the all-white platoon that reaches the top first and claims credit for the victory. This sparks a racist quarrel that looks like it could get out of hand.

The senior officer steps in and sorts out the argument before any damage is done. In classic EC style, the last panel is used to reveal the wording on the sign that has had the effect of bringing the African and white Americans together.

Published towards the end of the Korean War, this story involves segregated units, which still existed at the time in the U.S. Army, although full integration was not far away. The inter-racial conflict shown here is more of the nature of a rivalry, although there was definitely a hint that it could get nasty.

Social History in Comics: Star Spangled War Stories 179 - "A Town Called Hate!"

2011-02-12T09:34:00.004-05:00

With Archie Goodwin as editor, this issue of Star Spangled War Stories (179, March 1974) features an Unknown Soldier story that exposes the intense racial infighting that had been a serious problem in the U.S. military during the Vietnam conflict, using a WWII setting. In the Armed Forces Journal in 1971, Col. Robert D. Heinl, Jr. wrote:

"The morale, discipline and battleworthiness of the U.S. Armed Forces are, with a few salient exceptions, lower and worse than at any time in this century and possibly in the history of the United States. By every conceivable indicator, our army that now remains in Vietnam is in a state approaching collapse, with individual
units avoiding or having refused combat, murdering their officers and non commissioned officers, drug-ridden, and dispirited where not near mutinous. Elsewhere than Vietnam, the situation is nearly as serious. Intolerably clobbered and buffeted from without and within by social turbulence, pandemic drug addiction, race war,
sedition, civilian scapegoatise, draftee recalcitrance and malevolence, barracks theft and common crime, unsupported in their travail by the general government, in Congress as well as the executive branch, distrusted, disliked, and often reviled by the public, the uniformed services today are places of agony for the loyal, silent professionals who doggedly hang on and try to keep the ship afloat."

Col. Heinl paints an extremely disturbing picture. He points out, "It is a truism that national armies closely reflect societies from which they have been raised. It would be strange indeed if the Armed Forces did not today mirror the agonizing divisions and social traumas of American society, and of course they do." It's easy to forget (for those of us who lived through the period) how troubled society was at the time, as the so-called 'Swinging Sixties' gave way to the disillusionment of the 1970s.

He goes on to say, "Internally speaking, racial conflicts and drugs... are tearing the services apart today."

The Colonel provides examples of racial troubles within the military, both in Vietnam and elsewhere. While it seems clear that the eruptions of actual racial violence usually but not always originated with the African American personnel, there is no discussion of any racist treatment which might have provoked such outbreaks, but of course one has to assume that at some point this existed, if not in the moment then historically. Col. Heinl writes:

"Racial conflicts (most but not all sparked by young black enlisted men) are erupting murderously in all services...As early as July 1969 the Marines (who had previously enjoyed a highly praised record on race) made headlines at Camp Lejeune, N.C., when a mass affray launched by 30-50 black Marines ended fatally with a white corporal's skull smashed in and 145 other white Marines in the sick bay...Even the cloistered quarters of WACs have been hit by racial hair-pulling. In one West Coast WAC detachment this year, black women on duty as charge-of-quarters took advantage of their trust to vandalize unlocked rooms occupied by white WACS. On this rampage, they destroyed clothing, emptied drawers, and overturned furniture of their white sisters."

There is little in the Colonel's report in terms of reassurance, but he does observe, "All services are today striving energetically to cool and control this ugly violence which in the words of one noncommissioned officer, has made his once tough unit divide up "like two street gangs.""

He finishes his entire piece with a general observation on all the factors he has described that were contributory to the dire situation in the military, of which racial in-fighting was admittedly only one aspect, albeit a major one: "...many a thoughtful officer would be quick to echo the words of BGen. Donn A. Starry, who recently wrote, "The Army can defend the nation against anything but the nation itself." Or -- in the wry words of Pogo -- we have met the enemy, and they are us."

Three years after Col. Heinl wrote that frightening assessment of the state of affairs in the military, the problem was clearly still in the public consciousness, and became the subject of this Unknown Soldier story, "A Town Called Hate!", written by Frank Robbins and illustrated beautifully by Jack Sparling.

When a segregated African American unit comes into town and meets a segregated white unit in the local eatery, the racial tension level spikes through the roof. That night, some soldiers in the all African American unit are mercilessly gunned down, by an assailant whose identity is unknown to the reader at this point.

After what went on earlier, the African American soldiers are in no doubt as to who the perpetrators of these murders are, and exact their own fatal revenge:

The Unknown Soldier already has a mission, but once the news of the racial conflict amongst the troops reaches headquarters, it looks like he's going to have another task. The exchange between the African American sergeant, the Unknown Soldier's aide, Chat Noire, and his commanding officer reveals racial tension present at all levels in the ranks.

For the time being, however, and very ironically, the racial conflict works in favor of the U.S. forces. The group of Nazis disguised as G.I.'s, that the Unknown Soldier has infiltrated, reaches the town. Still seeking vengeance, the African American unit mistakes the Germans for the hostile white U.S. soldiers. In taking them prisoner they find out they're Nazis, and also that they've contacted the Unknown Soldier.

Chat Noire rolls into town in the nick of time to quell the racial conflict amongst the U.S. troops. Evidence then emerges that appears to indicate that disguised Nazis shot the African American soldiers, hoping to divide the Americans against each other. Sufficient unity is recreated to turns everyone's attention to the Nazi onslaught, and succeed:

While the point has been made that racial divisions in the military are counterproductive to the mission of our armed forces, there's a kind of disturbing epilogue that only the Unknown Soldier and Chat Noire are party to. In surveying their dead after the battle, the corpse of one white soldier is found, still clutching the German weapon he'd captured, used as his own, and which had become a kind of trademark lending it's name to him as a nickname. Those German cartridge cases found at the scene of the initial crime that sparked the racially polarized battle within the U.S. forces now take on more meaning. The white unit bought the Nazi infiltrator explanation because they knew it really was one of their men who carried out the shooting. The African American unit were convinced by the evidence that they had been hoodwinked by the Nazis. But the real truth was that it had been a racist white soldier who had gunned down his African American comrades in cold blood, and the engineers' initial deductions had been correct. For the sake of the war, the problem was solved temporarily, but the racial divisions still existed.

This story picked up on this racial conflict in the military theme that had originally been brought to light in comics by Harvey Kurtzman and Ric Estrada's "Bunker!" in Two-Fisted Tales 30 (Nov-Dec 1952), from over 20 years earlier. According to Col. Heinl, racial conflict within the U.S. military had a long history, dating back to the beginning of the 20th century. He noted, "Racial trouble is no new thing for the Army. In 1906, after considerable provocation, three companies of the 25th Infantry (a colored regular regiment) attacked white troops and townspeople of Brownsville, Texas, and had to be disbanded. Among the few pre-World War II War Department records still heavily classified and thus unavailable to scholars are Army documents

on racial troubles."

America's struggle for racial equality and integration has, on the one hand, been a source of criticism of the American people. But looked at another way, and I would say a more accurate way, it is the struggle of a nation at the forefront of developing a more enlightened, more advanced civilization. This struggle is seen in America because it is here where racism has been challenged by both white and black, and where the fight is on the front line. Where America has already trodden, other countries have yet to follow. While there are undoubtedly many areas of progress still to be made, I would argue that there is no nation on Earth that has advanced as far as the USA in developing a harmonious multi-racial, multi-cultural society, despite whatever shortcomings we still have to address. Comics like this issue of Star Spangled War Stories, that bring important issues out into the open, have played their part in the progress that has been made.

Early Black Comic Book Heroes: Misty Knight (6/6) in Bizarre Adventures 25 - "Lethal Ladies - Daughters of the Dragon"

2011-02-11T06:57:00.004-05:00

With the demise of the original Iron Fist series, Misty made appearances in Powerman and then Powerman and Iron Fist. As one half of The Daughters of the Dragon, her next story with Colleen Wing was in this all ladies issue of Bizarre Adventures (March 1981). And bizarre adventure it is alright. We're introduced to an old college friend of Misty's, Angie Freeman, who has, unfortunately, become a vampire! Read on...

Misty doesn't really know what happened yet, but as time goes on she'll come to understand that Angie has used her vampire abilities to bring Misty under her control. She's preparing Misty as a sacrifice in exchange for the protection of the local community from criminals!

Right now Colleen would make a great partner for Blade the Vampire Slayer, but she has to go this one alone. Sure enough, Misty's all set to become the new vampire on the block. Colleen's martial arts kit is vampire slayer oriented, and against huge odds she goes into action.

Misty's strong friendship with Colleen gives her enough strength to fight back against Angie's influence. When Colleen is downed, Misty picks up the battle, and finally releases Angie from her vampire hell with an improvised stake through the heart, courtesy of her bionic right arm. Colleen finishes the job by beheading Angie's body with her samurai sword. Strangely, the heroines aren't appreciated by the local populace, who were happy being indebted to vampires in exchange for freedom from criminals. Not a bad deal, actually when you think about it. No wonder they're angry at Misty and Colleen.

The girls get a well-deserved break on some tropical island. But even though they could relocate their business there if they wanted, Misty feels obliged to return to New York and help the people whose vampire protectors she and Colleen vanquished.

Merging kung fu and vampire slaying seems like a good combination on the basis of this issue. I wonder if there were subsequent team-ups with The Daughters of the Dragon and Blade the Vampire Slayer. In keeping with the other comics featuring Misty Knight that Out Of This Word has looked at in the previous 5 posts, this story simply presents African American and white/Asian in harmony. Race hasn't been an issue in any of these stories. Misty is an example, at least from what we've examined, of a simple passive approach to racial integration in comics, showing members of different races happily integrated as members of some overarching category, be it human or American, that puts race in a subordinate position. It seems, from her personality and activities, that Misty Knight is as much a feminist heroine as one promoting racial harmony.

Early Black Comic Book Heroes: Misty Knight (5/6)

2011-02-10T06:23:00.006-05:00

In the previous post on Out Of This World we saw Misty and Danny break up (Iron Fist 13). Remember that Misty had started rooming with Jean Grey? Well that connection eventually brings her into contact with the upper stratum of the Marvel Universe - godlike mutants, galaxy-spanning alien empires, etc. In such situations she's little more than a spectator, like here in X-Men 105 (June 1977):

Misty seemed to take all that in her stride. She even remained unfazed when Eric the Red got thrown into the mix, and abducted Lilandra before she and Misty really had any time to get acquainted:

It's a little too much for Jean's parents though:

Misty is definitely the most level-headed person left in the apartment, when Firelord returns looking for a fight:

A lot happens elsewhere in the universe in X-Men 106 & 107, and the X-men return safely to New York in X-Men 108. By now John Byrne has taken over the X-Men art from Dave Cockrum. Lilandra and the Professor are re-uinited, as are Misty and her cosmic room-mate, and all seems well:

Onto Iron Fist 15, the last issue in the original series and a Chris Claremont/John Byrne X-Men crossover, and we discover the nature of Misty's mission that she took following her break-up with Danny in ish 13 - to infiltrate the Bushmaster's operation, disguised as Maya Korday:

That plot line continues in Marvel Team-Up 63. Misty eventually breaks her cover and escapes from Bushmaster, only now he's that mad he wants her dead.

Misty eventually catches up with Iron Fist, but only after he's taken one heck of a beating from Steel Serpent, who's also stolen his power.

Marvel Team-Up 64 features both Misty and Colleen, as The Daughters of the Dragon, teamed up with Spider-man and Iron Fist:

Danny's helpless condition rekindles Misty's feelings for him. Colleen and Misty prepare to do battle with Steel Serpent, so that somehow they might be able to restore Danny's power to him.

Spidey soon re-engages in combat with Steel Serpent, but some intervention from Misty and Colleen is needed. Misty's bionic right arm comes in useful.

But it's Iron Fist himself who finishes the fight. Steel Serpent doesn't have the will power to control the Iron Fist, and is consumed by it. Danny reabsorbs his power and is restored to his former self.

So Misty and Iron Fist are an item again... for now. And here, in the final panel, is that piece of expert retcon that ties this all back to Misty's first appearance in Marvel Team-Up 1.

So what do we have with Misty Knight as a character? Not too much background given thus far - less than for Colleen Wing. Misty was a lady cop in the NYPD, who saved Colleen one time and they developed a strong partnership. Misty got her right arm blown off by a bomber, and had it replaced with a bionic arm. She and Colleen went into business as private cops, Nightwing Restorations, but with all their martial arts skills also became known as The Daughters of the Dragon. Misty sports an afro hairstyle, and is generally a stylish dresser. Misty is clearly comfortable in an integrated society - she has a mixed white/Asian business partner, a white room mate, and a white boyfriend. Race hasn't surfaced as an issue in any of Misty's early appearances. So it seems that she is an African American character contributing to the diversity of the Marvel Universe. I've read suggestions that making her a kung-fu specialist puts Misty in the blaxploitation category, since kung fu was popular with African Americans in the 1970s, but I'm not fully convinced of this argument. Blaxploitation, as I understand it, exploits negative stereotypes of African Americans. Enjoying kung fu movies or being into martial arts doesn't strike me as having any negative connotations, and it doesn't seem to be much of an established stereotype either.

As a person Misty is sometimes cool-headed in highly stressful situations, but at other times will punch first and ask questions later. She's resourceful, intelligent, and extremely brave. She's sophisticated and beautiful. She's capable of warmth, but can erect barriers when necessary - she's learned how to survive. Ultimately we know very little of Misty's background at this point in her comics career, and she's really been mostly a support character, with the exception of those two issues of Deadly Hands of Kung Fu featuring The Daughters of the Dragon. Probably the most significant aspect of Misty's early appearances is her inter-racial romance with Danny Rand (Iron Fist). This occurs matter-of-factly, as something natural, normal, and not necessary to be remarked upon. So Misty's appearance in the Marvel Universe, from the point of view of racial integration, is an example of presentation of fait accomplis harmonious integration.

Early Black Comic Book Heroes: Misty Knight (4/6)

2011-02-09T06:24:00.007-05:00

Published just before the two issues of Deadly Hands of Kung Fu featured in the previous Out Of This World posts was X-Men 102, in which Misty Knight and Jean Grey became room-mates! For a while Misty would feature in the New X-Men Phoenix saga, but not just yet.

Iron Fist continued to be the main vehicle through which Misty became established in the Marvel Universe. Issue 11 saw her reappear as a major character in the plot. By now something of a romantic relationship seems to be on the cards between Misty and Danny (Iron Fist). Danny is troubled, and spilling his guts to Misty, when their stroll in the park is interrupted by the resurgence of the Wrecking Crew, a super-powered bunch of vandals/hoodlums out for revenge on Thor!

Problem: The Wrecking Crew is after kidnapping Dr. Don Blake. The park is outside the hospital. Misty and Iron Fist are way out of their league with these particular bad guys, but the hospital is full of vulnerable people who stand to get very hurt if things get out of hand. But with no other superheroes in the vicinity, Misty and Iron Fist are all they've got between them and the insane super villains.

Iron Fist gives it his best shot, but it's not enough. The Wrecking Crew takes Misty hostage, and Iron Fist has to agree to get the baddies into Avengers Mansion so they can lay a trap for Thor. One parting condition, though - Iron Fist has to kill any Avengers he finds there. Misty's horrified that Iron Fist would sell out the Avengers to save her, but she doesn't yet realize what Danny's plan is.

In the next issue Iron Fist gains entrance to the Avengers Mansion, and explains everything to Captain America, after the two have slugged out their introduction to each other. Cap agrees to play dead, and be the Avenger Iron Fist found and killed when he entered the Mansion. The Wrecking Crew are extremely powerful, but not particularly smart, so they fall for it. The result? Wrecking Crew vs. the Avengers version of the Danger Room, designed to give guys like Thor a workout! Trouble is, Iron Fist and Cap are in there as well, and have to dodge the attentions of The Wrecking Crew and the Danger Room just to stay alive. Misty is still outside the door, not fully aware of what's really going on, a little mad at being excluded, and worried about Danny's safety.

Misty waits as long as she can bear, then wrenches the door open with her bionic arm, to find that it's all over. The Wrecking Crew are subdued, and Iron Fist and Cap are none the worse for wear. Danny and Misty walk off arm in arm, to begin what looks like it could develop into a serious romance.

Iron Fist 13 begins with Misty and Danny at the docks. Misty wants to talk to Iron Fist about a dangerous assignment she's been asked to take on, but before any discussion can take place, Iron Fist is attacked by Boomerang.

This encounter sees Danny barely escape with his life. But as he and Misty talk, the subject matter moves from his survival onto saving a friend whom Misty can't accept. Terrorist bombers are one category of person Misty doesn't tolerate, especially since it was one of their kind that cost her her real arm. Danny makes the mistake of giving Misty an ultimatum, which of course she is going to refuse, and their fledgling relationship seems over at that point. Misty's gone, and Iron Fist continues his battle with Boomerang.

This turn of events, of course, frees Misty up for a new plot line - that assignment she was talking about, and we'll find out more about that in the next installment of the history of Misty Knight here on Out Of This World. We've learned here that anyone who wants a relationship with Misty is going to have to be willing for it to function on her terms. She has her gentle side, but she can take the heartache if necessary, and stand her ground firmly. Tough lady!